As usual, the NBA’s moratorium period was a week of whirlwind action with some league-shifting activity from all corners of the NBA.
Not all free agency business is done, mind you – Kawhi Leonard still, technically, hasn’t signed his new deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, for example – but enough business has been taken care of that we feel we can now make some assessments from free agency.
Here are the biggest winners and losers from the NBA’s major off-season event.
Winners
Miami Heat
The undisputed winner of free agency because the Miami Heat landed the biggest fish in the sea that was actually available: Kyle Lowry.
The now-former legendary Toronto Raptors point guard is off to Miami as part of a sign-and-trade transaction that saw him sign with Miami for three years at $85 million.
Along with this piece of business, the Heat also managed to re-sign Duncan Robinson, lock up Jimmy Butler long term to a massive extension and, while they were at it, add P.J. Tucker and Markieff Morris to the bunch.
This doesn’t necessarily mean Miami is now at the same level as a fully-healthy Brooklyn Nets or a Milwaukee Bucks squad with Giannis Antetokounmpo firing on all cylinders as he was in the Finals, but there’s no doubt the Heat look significantly better now than they did at the end of their season when they got swept by Milwaukee in the first round of the playoffs.
The additions of Lowry, Tucker and Morris are a match made in heaven for the vaunted “Heat culture,” as they’re all tough and, particularly in the case of Lowry and Tucker are excellent defenders who know a thing or two about getting underneath the skin of their opponent.
Miami will be among the hardest and most annoying teams to play against next season, and that will be in no small part because of these additions Miami’s made.
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls need to be applauded for how aggressive they’ve been during free agency.
Right as the horn sounded on the start of the moratorium, it was announced that Chicago was signing restricted free agent Lonzo Ball, poaching him from the New Orleans Pelicans, a player whose pass-first mentality and strong defensive chops make him a great-looking fit beside Zach LaVine in the Bulls backcourt.
Additionally, the Bulls managed to add Alex Caruso in free agency, an underrated move as his defensive ability, shooting and athleticism are all things Chicago needs.
The biggest move the Bulls made, however, was their sign-and-trade with the San Antonio Spurs to bring in DeMar DeRozan.
The price was steep as DeRozan was inked to a fully-guaranteed, three-year, $85-million contract and the Bulls ended up giving up a 2025 first-rounder, two second-round picks and talented, multi-positional Thaddeus Young.
DeRozan is obviously a talented offensive player and he’ll likely work out better for the Bulls than most think because he figures to be the perfect complementary to LaVine as far as the scoring load goes, in addition to being one of the league’s best pick-and-roll operators and playmakers, which could unlock even more of Chicago’s offence.
With that said, defensively, DeRozan has never been anything greater than a net neutral and is often a minus in that department, and seeing as the Bulls gave up their best all-around defender in Young for DeRozan and how poor the Bulls were defensively last season, it’s understandable that there might be some trepidation over the move.
However, no major move comes without risk, and in the Bulls’ case they’ll be banking on becoming an elite offensive squad with their star duo of LaVine and DeRozan to help make up for their apparent weakness defensively.
So kudos to Chicago for making a go of it and trying to make it out of the doldrums of mediocrity and irrelevance it’s been stuck in for years now.
Chris Paul
Chris Paul, at age 36, opted out of a guaranteed $44.2 million that he would make next season for a contract that, long-term, will be even better as he signed a four-year, $120-million deal to stay with the Suns.
He was instrumental in Phoenix’s run to the Finals, and deserves to be recognized and compensated for that, but this contract is kinda nuts, no?
Paul will be 40 by the time this thing is over and who knows what kind of player he’ll be by then.
However, because of that, full power to Paul for managing to cash in yet again.
Losers
Toronto Raptors
I could very well be eating crow for saying this as there’s a lot not known yet about this Raptors team. But as things stand, this hasn’t been a good free agency and off-season, in general, for them.
Yes, Toronto did manage to lock up its most important free agent in Masai Ujiri, something that may well have washed away any pain Raptors fans might have been feeling from this free agency, but the fact remains that this was a team that finished with a 27-45 record in a 72-game season, finished with just the 16th-best offence and 15th-best defence and hasn’t demonstrably gotten that much better heading into the 2021-22 campaign.
The haul the Raptors got back in the Lowry trade was fine enough. Goran Dragic looks like he could be a good bridge as the team transitions out of the Lowry era, and Precious Achiuwa has the potential to be a defensive force. But it’s worth mentioning that this was a deal the Raptors reportedly had on the table in front of them at the deadline and, ultimately, balked at. So what’s changed since then?
Additionally, as good as Dragic could be for this Raptors team, his true value lies in the $19.4-million contract he’s on for next season and how that might be able to grease the wheels in trade the Raptors may look to make at next season’s deadline.
The Raptors are likely going to have to get something of real value using Dragic to make this deal all worth it, because as things stand now, this is a team with a lot of promise, but nothing really concrete looking.
For example, with a core moving forward, presumably, of Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Scottie Barnes and Achiuwa, that’s a team that looks like it could be an insanely fun switch-everything defensive squad, but who’s going to score?
Of those players, only Siakam looks like a reliable go-to scoring option, and it’s not like he can do it all himself.
Essentially, the Raptors appear to be banking hard on someone else to emerge and become a near star-level scorer to complement Siakam, and it’s not all that apparent who that might be.
The moves the Raptors have made, on an individual level, look fine – Khem Birch’s new deal, in particular looks like it can offer tremendous value to the team – but looking at what the Raptors are doing as a whole, it’s tough to see exactly what the plan is.
Maybe the fog will clearer a little later, but as things now, even with Ujiri officially back on board and in the fold, this has been a poor free agency for the Raptors.
That’s a ton of star power and if you were playing franchise mode on NBA 2K12 this is probably the team you’d be looking to assemble, but the year is 2021 now and this is a roster full of some very old dudes.
The Lakers faltered last season because of some bad injury luck to LeBron James and Anthony Davis and didn’t have the depth required to sustain such significant losses.
So their solution was to go out and not only ship out and allow a lot of their young players to walk, but to replace them with old, faded stars?
Sure, the name recognition of adding the likes of a Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard and, previously in a trade, Russell Westbrook will certainly win you headlines, but will it win you games?
Heaven forbid James and/or Davis are forced to miss time again next season and this team of soon-to-be retirees need to take the reins.
This whole Lakers team just feels like a disaster waiting to happen.
Schroder
Dennis Schroder made a monumental mistake before this past season when he reportedly turned down a four-year, $84-million contract extension from the Lakers, believing he could get more on the open market.
Well, the market’s been open for a while and Schroder still remains unsigned, although it looks like there could be some momentum between him and Boston Celtics.
Schroder likely had dreams of becoming a $25-million-per-year man, and he would’ve been close to that had he taken that extension from Los Angeles, but now even cracking the $15-million annually barrier seems like it might prove to be difficult for Schroder.
Sometimes when you bet on yourself, you end up falling flat.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.
WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).
Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.
“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.
“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”
Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.
Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.
Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.
Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.
The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.
Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.
The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.
WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.
The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.
Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.
Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad
Forwards
Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);
Backs
Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
